Various types of support devices, such as mattresses, cushions, chairs, are known to support a user's body. A conventional mattress may include an array of spring elements to support a body. When a user lays on a conventional mattress, the springs compress. As the level of compression increases, the resistive force in the springs increase as a result of user's weight on the mattress. This increased resistance tends to focus on protruding regions of patient anatomy which may cause lesions such as pressure ulcers, or other local circulatory problems, especially in bedridden patients. Protuberant regions of the anatomy are more prone to develop pressure sores because they tend to penetrate more deeply into mattresses, encountering greater forces than nearby regions and thus are more likely to have diminished local blood circulation.
Areas of a patient's body exposed to higher pressures when positioned on a support device, i.e., pressure points, are undesirable. Current methods to reduce pressure points on bedridden patients involve frequently moving or rotating the position of the patient on the support device so that a pressure point does not lead to the above-mentioned lesions. While this approach may be helpful, it requires someone, such as a nurse, to physically move the patient. This is time consuming and may also lead to injuring the nurse and/or the patient.